Australia Open: Osaka battles for trophy against Kvitova in final

OSAKA

NAOMI Osaka battled past Karolina Pliskova in three enthralling sets to reach the Australian Open final and move within one victory of securing back-to-back Grand Slams.

The US Open champion won 6-2 4-6 6-4 to become the first Japanese player to reach the final in Melbourne, and she will face eighth seed Petra Kvitova on Saturday after the Czech overcame Danielle Collins 7-6(2) 6-0.

Osaka hit an incredible 56 winners on her way to victory, and in holding off Pliskova’s fightback the fourth seed made it 59 straight wins when she was taken the first set.

“I was expecting a really hard battle, I told myself to regroup in the third set and just try to serve as I can,” Osaka said after the match.

“Experience playing matches like this [helps]. I was so scared serving second serves! I was like, ‘Oh my God, please!’. Somehow, I made it, so I guess that’s experience?”

Osaka looked the more composed early on, and after missing out on a break opportunity in the opening game she broke Pliskova, conqueror of Serena Williams in the previous round, two games later.

A double fault from Pliskova saw Osaka go a double break up, and the 21-year-old closed out a dominant opening set with 33 minutes on the clock.

The odds were with Osaka given her record after winning the first set, and once more she took that momentum with her when breaking Pliskova in the opening game of the second set.

However, Pliskova responded with a break of her own and then fought from 0-40 down to hold her next service game.

It was Osaka’s turn to dig deep in the eighth game, as she saved a break point before levelling up at 4-4, but two games later Pliskova broke her to love to send the match to a decider.

A stunning sequence saw Osaka save three break points in her opening service game of the final set before breaking Pliskova to love.

With the pressure ramping up, Osaka denied Pliskova a break-back to lead 5-3, and she served out for the match two games later to reach the final in Melbourne for the first time. - Eurosport

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